Mom and dad, have you got picky eaters in your family? Parents are always hearing how important it
is to feed children healthy, but if said children won't cooperate, it can be a real headache. Here are
parenting tips from a teacher, preschool director and mom of four on how to unpick picky eaters plus
healthy kids recipes to fix eating habits and have those fussy eaters eating out your hand!
* Numero uno parenting tips to unpick picky eaters--examine your own eating habits. The majority of
kids who are picky eaters, are raised by adults who are picky eaters. Though he may not show it,
your child trusts your judgement. If you won't try new foods and have a list of dislikes a mile long, you
communicate food phobia to your kids. If you turn your nose up at many foods, your kids figure that
you must have a good reason and they do likewise.
* Take baby steps. To learn to run, you first learn to crawl and then to walk. It's the same with
unlearning picky eating habits. If you've discovered that you are among the many fussy eaters in this
indulged first world, start slowly and add new foods to your diet. Give your children the same growing
space. Check out new healthy kids recipes to find things she'll like. The goal isn't to get picky eaters
to eat everything (this author will never, ever eat liver ever). The goal is to expand both your food
horizons.
* Appeal to the innate good judgement of your picky eaters. Tell your children why it's so important
that to develop healthy eating habits. Show them how unhealthy eating habits can affect her (obesity,
tooth decay, liver damage, diabetes heart disease). You're not trying to scare, just to inform.
* Bargain with fussy eaters. Allow her to say "no, thank you" to one menu item per meal. If she
declines a vegetable, she must eat another one in its place. Healthy meals include at least two
vegetables. Lettuce salads are great healthy kids recipes to make at home. Have picky eaters help
make a salad bar for dinner with lots of veggies added in--scallions, tomatoes, cucumbers, green
peppers, radishes, sprouts, broccoli, eggs, mushrooms, etc. Let her make her own salads, encourage
her to add new vegetables each time. You can also make trades. For every new food she tries, she
gets something she likes.
* Avoid the clean plate club mentality. Here's one of the best parenting tips ever. Don't make your
child eat every bite of a portion size you determined. What seemed like an appropriate portion to you
is likely way to much for children. Children should generally eat all they take. But children should
learn to recognize if food is spoiled or improperly cooked. They will not always be able to judge how
much they can eat.
* Don't overlook illness. Here's another of the essential parenting tips. Just because a child is picky
doesn't mean there may not be a good reason why she is refusing this meal. Check for fever, teeth
coming in, sinus or allergies or flu bug.
* No dessert without dinner. A child should eat a good portion of nutritious food, particularly protein
and vegetables, before eating sweets (even fruit). Sugary foods literally do "kill" the appetite without
adding nutritional value. This isn't bribery as you are encouraging good eating habits by offering
sweets after the healthy food is eating. And psst, here's one of the best kept secret parenting tips.
You can make desserts nutritious. Swap blue agave syrup, honey, fruit and molasses and raw sugar
for refined sugar. Include whole grains, fiber and Greek yogurt for super healthy kids recipes for
dessert.
* Serve water with meals instead of other beverages. Milk is nutritious, but it can also fill kids up
before they have eaten much dinner. Never serve soda, chocolate milk or even fruit juice as a
beverage. Those are desserts.
* Make a collection of your family's favorite healthy kids recipes. Let children help in the kitchen,
preparing meals. A picky eater's biggest fear is that you will slip something she doesn't like in her
food. So she avoid casseroles, soups and foods with many ingredients. When they help cook, fussy
eaters know what's going in their meals.
* It's all in the presentation. Fragrant food, served with an eye to color and arrangement will tempt the
fussiest, pickiest eater. Serve a small portion of turmeric and herb-roasted chicken breast. Add a side
of jasmine rice, Portobello mushrooms, broccoli and carrots. Add fresh tomato and cucumber slices
and a mixed berry parfait. This meal looks beautiful and tastes delicious. Your fussy eaters will be
eating out of your hand
